Radcliffe Describes Return To Running As A “Disaster”

Paula Radcliffe struggled in her first race back in 18 months. Photo:PhotoRun.net

Paula Radcliffe struggled in her first race back in 18 months. Photo:PhotoRun.net

She hadn’t raced in 18 months.

Despite the fact that she still owns the marathon world record has has many other impressive achievements in her long career, British long-distance ace Paula Radcliffe is not happy with her current comeback. Last weekend, she raced the Bupa London 10,000 and came in a disappointing third (33:17).

It was the first race for Radcliffe in 18 months. She had been taking a break from running to give birth to her son, Raphael, last September.

“I wanted it to be a bit better than that,” Radcliffe recalled about her recent race. “For me, it was a bit of a disaster….I was just really gutted. I stopped and looked at the clock and knew I should be running a marathon quicker than that. It was not good at all.”

The race was ultimately won by Jo Pavey who finished over 55 seconds ahead of Radcliffe. Both Radcliffe and Pavey had started together, but by the first kilometer, it was evident that Radcliffe wasn’t going to be able to maintain pace. By the 4K mark, Pavey had taken off.

Duncan Larkin

Duncan Larkin is a freelance journalist and author who’s been covering the sport of running for over a decade. He’s run 2:32 in the marathon and won the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race in 2007. He wrote the book RUN SIMPLE, and coaches runners of all abilities.
You can learn more about him here: http://roadsmillslaps.tumblr.com/about